In my Facebook group, Becoming the Blogger Within, we have been talking about the beginning stages of starting a blog. Yesterday, we talked about choosing a blogging platform and today we started talking about how to choose your domain name.

I have gone through a few domain names throughout the years that have changed when my blog changed. A few of mine throughout the years…

The Original Samantha

Samantha Laycock

Blogging Your Story

Find Your Creative Strategy

There were a few more in between the first and the second domain but I can’t remember them. I thought that I needed to play it safe when it came to my name and so for many years I stuck with my first and last name. I wanted people who looked me up to easily find me. It worked well because more people Google my name than my business name.

It didn’t represent my creativity though. I wanted something that would stand out in the crowd. A name that would get people talking.

THE BENEFITS OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Your domain name not only represents instantly what you blog about but it also gives them a feel for your personality.

It may be the first thing people notice about your business. Whether you show up on Google or any other search engine or they found you organically, your domain name is going to give them instant access to who you are, your business, and your blog.

A few of the benefits of your domain name are…

• It can give you instant credibility in your niche
• It can help you stand out among the crowd
• It can help place you with your competitors
• It will help give you visibility in your niche
• It will help you to build your brand
• It will help you reach your ideal readers
• It can help you with your SEO

LISTS TO HELP YOU CHOOSE YOUR PERFECT DOMAIN NAME

The biggest step to picking a domain name is to have fun. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself that you can’t think of anything to use.

Before we begin, let’s get our creativity to the next level. I want you to turn on your favorite song and dance. Sing at the top of your lungs but just have fun for the next 3-4 minutes while you do this and then come back down, grab a piece of paper and let’s get to brainstorming.

On a piece of paper, I want you to write down all the words and phrases that come to you during these exercises. You are going to be able to take these words and phrases and combine them to make a unique domain that is going to describe you, your blog, and your niche.

List 1| Think about HOW you want your readers to feel. When a reader comes to your blog, what emotions do you want to evoke? Write down everything that you want them to feel when they come to your blog or even to the rest of your website.

A few examples of words can be…

• Motivated
• Inspired
• Safe
• Loved
• Optimistic
• Hopeful
• Brave
• Content

Now write your list of words that you want to associate with your brand.

List 2| Think about WHAT you are teaching them. What are your readers coming to your website and blog for? This is going to tie into your niche. If you don’t know what you are going to teach them or what your blog niche is going to be, here is a blog post with 5 lists to help you narrow down your blog niche.

List 3| Think about WHO you are talking to. Again, this is going to tie into your niche but it is more than that. Who are you wanting to speak to with the blog posts that you write?

Questions to help narrow this down…

• Are you speaking to men or women?
• What are the ages of my ideal reader?
• Do I want to focus on families, singles, or married with no kids?
• Do my ideal readers have a specific career focus?
• Do my experiences help me to connect with my ideal readers?
• How do my ideal readers speak? This doesn’t only mean the language that they speak. It can mean the words that they use within their language.

List 4| Think about the NICHE you are going to blog in. Are there specific words that correlate with the niche that you are going to blog in? Write down every word that you can think of that has to do with your niche.

For example, let’s pretend that we are creating a blog on homeschooling. Here are some words that correlate with that niche.

• Unschooling
• Homeschool curriculum
• School at home
• Online learning
• Homeschool routine
• Resources for homeschooling
• Homeschooling planning
• Homeschooling essentials

List 5| Think about puns that are associated with your niche. Are there any fun puns that are relevant to your niche? This is a great way to add a little play to your domain name.

List 6| Think about details that describe who you are. This is a great way to personalize your blog domain name.

A few ways to add personal details into your domain name are…

• The city you live in
• Hair color
• Eye color
• What you do

This is also a great way to create a strong visual for your blog readers when they see your domain name.

List 7| Look up synonyms of words that you have on your list. You have six other lists of words that you can use. Go to Google and search for synonyms of those words. This can give you additional words that you never even thought of.

Once you have these lists created, it is time to have some fun. Start writing out unique and different combinations of the words on the lists. If you need help with this, check out the Business Name Generator. It is an awesome resource to use. You just type in a word from your list and it will give you a HUGE list of different combinations of words that you can use. I have used it to help me find unique words to name some of my blog coaching programs before.

Grab this Name Your Domain workbook to help you with all of these lists.

A FEW TIPS TO REMEMBER WHEN CREATING YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Now that you have your lists written out, I want to share a few tips with you on choosing your domain name.

1. Make it short and easy to remember.
2. Make it easy to spell.
3. Check for availability before you make a final decision.
4. Check for availability on social media platforms as well.

If you are looking for help when it comes to starting your blog, Blogology starts on January 24, 2022. This is a 12-week program that will walk you step by step into starting your own blog.

The breakdown of this program is…

• Week One: Your why, vision, and goals
• Week Two: Niche and ideal reader
• Week Three: Keywords and categories
• Week Four: Creating your content calendar
• Week Five: Social media
• Week Six: Blog posts and SEO
• Week Seven: Turning your blog posts into social media posts
• Week Eight: Blogging tools to use
• Week Nine: Building an audience
• Week Ten: Monetize your way
• Week Eleven: Organization
• Week Twelve: Email lists

There is only room for 6 women in this coaching program. It includes weekly group coaching calls and bi-weekly 1:1 coaching calls. Let’s chat to see if you would be a great fit for this program.